Climber Killed by Lightning on Kilimanjaro

Irish adventurer killed after being struck by lightning on Mt Kilimanjaro

One of Ireland's most famous mountaineers, Ian McKeever, has been killed after being struck by lightning as he led a charity group climbing Africa's highest peak.

Ian McKeever was killed after being struck by lightning as he led a charity group climbing Africa's highest peak Mt Kilimanjaro  Photo: AP/PA

Ian McKeever, 42, died instantly after three days of severe weather worsened as he guided more than 20 climbers above 13,000ft on Tanzania’s Mt Kilimanjaro.

His fiancée, Anna O’Louglin, 34, who he was due to marry in September, was injured in the storm, as were up to six other members of the expedition.

They were last night being treated by Tanzanian doctors.

Jack O’Donohue, 60, was beside Mr McKeever as the lightning struck, and he described to his son, John, how the force of the bolt threw him from his feet.

“I believe that Dad was climbing with Ian and they were only three feet apart when tragedy struck,” John O’Donohue said yesterday.

 

 

“My Dad phoned my Mum from the hospital yesterday to convey the very sad news. He said that he was fine but he was thrown into the air by a bolt of lightning, so I’m anxious to hear from him again.”
Mr McKeever had climbed Kilimanjaro several times, often leading groups of youngsters, and was on this occasion leading a large team of mostly Irish climbers raising money for charity.

The attempt on the 19,340ft mountain, Africa’s tallest, began on December 30 and immediately ran into unseasonal bad weather.

On Mr McKeever’s Kilimanjaro Achievers Facebook page, colleagues wrote that the group was above 13,000ft but that conditions had been terrible throughout the climb.

“Torrential rain all day,” they wrote on Wednesday. “Spirits remain good even if drying clothes is proving impossible! We pray for dryer weather tomorrow – the big day.”

They were due to ascend to the Lava Tower, a key point of acclimatisation at 15,000ft, before descending slightly to sleep before pushing higher towards the summit, which they aimed to reach late on Friday.

The storm is understood to have worsened as the group was climbing towards the Lava Tower on Wednesday.

Mr McKeever died later that evening.

Among those taking part in the climb was a school group from Ballinamore in north-western Ireland, with four students and a teacher, Aoife Ní Mháille.

Padraig Leyden, head of St Felims College, said he had a brief conversation with Miss Ní Mháille.
“It was very frightening and very severe,” Mr Leyden told The Daily Telegraph. “The group hid behind rocks for the entirety. I do not know whether they witnessed what happened.

“They were taken off the mountain and were brought to a local hospital for checks. All the students are physically fine, but naturally very upset about what’s occurred.”

Tributes poured in for Mr McKeever and his achievements during a decade-long mountaineering career in which he set a world record for the fastest successful summiting of the highest peaks on all seven continents, finishing the feat in 156 days in 2007.

Pat Falvey, renowned Irish explorer, said Mr McKeever “followed his dreams with conviction and inspired others”.

“It was a freak accident and a complete fluke,” he told the Irish Independent. “I have lost two friends in lightning strikes, including one on the Himalayas — but they are very rare on Kilimanjaro.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “Ian said to me once that there was no place he would rather be than in the mountains.

“I would like to extend my sympathies to his fiancée Anna and his family, friends and fellow adventurers.”

 

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*article source: telegraph.co.uk